PM adds weight to PEN's Burma campaign

Thursday 25 October 2007 07.33 EDT
First published on Thursday 25 October 2007 07.33 EDT

The prime minister has lent his support to a campaign calling for the release of writers, journalists and political prisoners imprisoned by the military regime in Burma.

In a letter to be read out at an event tonight organised by the writers' association English PEN, Gordon Brown says that the world must stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the Burmese people at a "crucial moment" in their history. "The world watched in admiration as thousands demonstrated their resistance to military repression and the denial of their basic freedoms," he writes, "and then in horror, as peaceful campaigners were attacked, arrested and killed, simply for speaking out ... With PEN, we in the British government pay tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi and other lesser-known writers of Burma."

He calls for the international community and "in particular those states neighbouring Burma" to "speed" the transition to "freedom and democracy", and for the "immediate release" of all political prisoners.

John Pilger, Rhys Ifans and Maureen Lipman will be presenting the work of Aung San Suu Kyi as well as other less well-known authors including Aung Than, Zeya Aung, Ludu Daw Amar, and "Zargana". New footage of interviews with writers on the Thai border will also be shown.

Aung Than and Zeya Aung are currently serving a 19-year sentence for "illegal publication" and "anti-government writing" after publishing a book of poetry Daung Mann (The Fighting Spirit of the Peacock). Ludu Daw Amar is a journalist and translator under constant surveillance by the military regime. "Zaragana" is a comedian and poet, who was released last week from detention after collecting donations in support of pro-democracy demonstrators.

The director of English PEN, Jonathan Heawood, was "delighted" that Brown has "added his weight to the event this evening", adding that he couldn't remember a recent prime minister lending his support to such a campaign.

Brown devoted a chapter in his recent book, Courage, to Aung San Suu Kyi, and has already spoken out on recent developments in Burma.

"We look forward to turning this kind of support into cooperation on the ground," said Heawood, "and hope the government continues to exert maximum pressure on the military regime in Burma and on neighbouring states, not least China."

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